ews& otes

Issued confidentially to members and friends

No. 100 September-October 1985 Not for publication

MY LIFE AS A CHICAGO HOUSE PHOTO ARCHIVIST

I waited out last winter, one of Chicago's worst, in Luxor, Egypt. My 10 weeks as a new staff member at Chicago House were marked by a sense of focus and order totally lacking in my life in the U.S. This was , of course, due to the energetic efforts of others. I never saw Director Lanny Bell move at less than a trot as he managed the hour-to-hour hassles involved in an expedition with a huge house , 14 professional staff members , and 23 Egyptian workmen. He stayed on top of the proliferating tasks by keeping lists on small white slips of paper which he shuffled around as various problems were subdued. I spotted one paper with a mysterious drawing on it: it was a diagram explaining to the cook how to make an onion ring.

On an expedition roles have a way of drifting away from official job descriptions. Officially I was an administrative assistant and photo archivist, for which I was trained by John Larson , Archivist of the Oriental Institute Museum. My job was to help photographer Susan Lezon keep order in Chicago House's photo archive of 14,000 negatives and

20,000 prints. While I was working the standard 40 hours a week starting at 7:30 each morning in the archives, a new role presented itself very shortly. Lanny or one of his staff had been giving visitors who appeared at the gate a tour around the library and explaining the work to them. In 1983-84 the number of visitors signing the guest boo k was 515. But this season the number of visitors doubled and presented a real interruption to the work. I had been trained by Carolyn Livingood at the Oriental Institute as a museum docent almost 20 years ago and stepped into my new role of Chicago House docent gladly. I t was a pleasant change from the meticulous work I was doing in the archives , writing tiny numbers on the edges of negatives in Rapidograph pen , and I welcomed Sayid the gateman's cry of, "G uests! "

Around me the primary mission of Chicago House went on as it has for 61 years: documentation of the monuments with precise facsimile drawings , and I watched the "Chi­cago House method" in action. Photographer, artists, Egyp­tologists, and ultimately the director must agree on what is

Photographer Susan Lezon s assistant Youssef develops a print in the photo lab. using goggles to protect himself from toxic fumes.

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actually on the wall before Chicago House volumes go to press. This system of checks and balances takes time and endless trips to the walls themselves , but the method pays off in close to 100% accuracy. I could peer out my archive window and see Egyptologist Bill Murnane going into the artists' studios to confer on details or step out to the library and find artist Ray Johnson and Bill studying the volumes for parallels. I crept up the scaffolding at Luxor Temple to watch Helena Jaeschke comparing earlier drawings against the wall itself and shuddered as she leaned into empty space to point out a feature to me. (Mercifully I missed the season when staff members climbed shaky ladders to study the very top of the Luxor Colonnade columns.) I crossed the river on the commuter ferry (a rich experience in itself) one day to watch our epigraphers at work on Medinet Habu and to see the small chapel there that has been transformed by the cleaning given it by Richard and Helena Jaeschke. Richard was putting in a special floor when I went over so that the richly colored chapel can be opened to tourists by the Egyptian Antiquities Organization without the dust kicked up from the old earthen floor damaging the delicate walls.

Ray Johnson undertook to raise my "fragment conscious­ness" by explaining his work with the blocks that were saved during the Antiquities Organization's excavation of Luxor Temple. Most of these blocks were reused in buildings on the Avenue of Sphinxes (one of the earliest of these is a Christian church dating from the 6-8th centuries A.D.). Ray has discovered over the past few years that more than 1000 of these blocks fit together, and he is in effect reassembling this "Lost Colonnade" of Luxor Temple. With the help of the Egyptian Antiquities Organization some of these blocks will actually be put back in their original places. The more unwieldly will sit in their proper order on benches nearby.

My boss, Sue Lezon , was busy copying negatives that have started to decompose in the archive. With the rapid deterioration of the monuments themselves the loss of these early pictures of them is a tragedy. Everyone is aware that the infamous nitrate negatives , used before World War II, deteriorate. The bad news is that the deterioration is spread­ing like a virus to the early "safety film" stored near the nitrates. Sue is spot checking the archive each week and making copies of negatives that show signs of decomposi­tion. I then register the new negatives and put them in archival envelopes for protection . My appreciation for the photo archives, in a small and rather chilly room behind the library, grew as I saw how valuable they were to the schol­ars. A parade of students and Egyptologists greeted me as they came to look up older photos of the monuments they were studying. A group of photographs taken by Friedrich Koch around 1912 in Luxor Temple proved to be a tremen­dous help to Bill in his work. They showed with great clarity details missed by earlier artists; in one case they pointed us to a detail on the wall that is still visible, but so badly worn that it would be very easy to overlook entirely.

A surprise group of prints turned up at Chicago House during a recent clean-up. A. Beato , 1. P. Sebah, and F. Bonfils were a group of photographers working in Luxor in the second half of the 19th century. I registered 132 of their

pictures, which are not only beautiful and romantic works of art but provide information about the recent history of the monuments. There are puzzling code letters on the prints like "Dg" or "B 3," and part of our job will be t r decide if those letters have significance to us or are JUSt

some dealer's notes to himself. Part of Breasted's plan for Chicago House was to make it

a center for all scholars in Egypt. The core of the work area is the magnificent library supervised by librarian Martha Bell. Over 14,000 volumes are available to staff members and other Egyptologists. On Friday, the day off for most exped itions, our library was always full of Egyptian, French, German , Polish and American colleagues.

Our obligation to other expeditions goes beyond the scholarly, however. Lanny lent the Brooklyn Museum Expe­dition a car temporarily and put them up until their dig house was ready. I sat with women from the AWARE Expe­dition at Karnak as they waited for phone calls, on our phone , from stay-at-home spouses- the only way to guaran­tee them privacy during these calls was to shut them up in the liquor closet next to the telephone! There were thou­sands of services and kindnesses that Chicago House of­fered in its role as the permanent American center in Luxor. And these , of course , added to the workload.

Like a tide the day's activities flowed between the resi­dence wing , where we each enjoyed a private room and bath , and the work areas. Meals prepared by the Egyptian staff drew us together in the dining room 3 times a day. The food was excellent , much of itgrown on our 3-acre grounds, and all of us found it hard to avoid gaining a few pounds. Lanny manages to feed each of us for about 52.50 a day, and provides Egyptian wine at dinner! There were also very special events, like the advent of the Oriental Institute tour,

Ray Johnson and Jill Maher ring in the New Year at Chicago House.

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Four Epigraphic Survey members climbing the Qurn.

for which Martha prepared a fabulous dinner, and the Twen­ties party that brought in the New Year. The Braidwoods sent me to Chicago House with a family heirloom dress that spent a wonderful evening on the dance floor that night.

The pace of life at Chicago House was so pleasant that it became increasingly easy to forget plans for some studying or maintaining an exercise regime. Some jogged , but most of us gave in to the temptation to stay on the grounds and succumb to tea cakes. Members of the Oriental Institute know that 5 o'clock tea is an institution at Chicago House and that they are welcome to come if they have contacted the director ahead of time.

The rooms except for the library and offices are un­heated, and they get down to 55° F and below. I was assigned a small electric heater instantly when I reported for my first day in the archives wearing a dramatic ensemble of wool gloves, wool hat , down coat and an army surplus space blanket.

Many visiting scholars stayed at Chicago House , and we enjoyed the visit of Dick Verdery, head of the American Research Center in Egypt , with his son. Peter Dorman of the Metropolitan Museum worked with us 6 weeks and was a great addition to the group. Friends from the U.S. Em­bassy stayed 2 nights during which we had an unforgettable tour of Luxor temple by full moon.

Mme. Atteiya Habachi , the widow of Dr. Labib Habachi, lived with us for several months. She did important transla­tion work for Lanny, answered phones (which we all dreaded because ca llers usually spoke in rapid Arabic), and encour­aged me in my attempts to master Arabic. She would sit by

me after dinner explaining the action on the Egyptian tele­vision serials. The action itself was rarely mysterious, but the Arabic certainly was, and I appreciated her help. While Mme. Habachi and I watched the soaps, many members of the Expedition went back to work immediately after dinner. I was astounded on my first Saturday night in Luxor to wander over to the library and find it full.

It would be very hard to pick the most important event of my stay, but it might be the climb up the Qurn. The Qurn is the little mountain above the Valleys of the Kings and Queens that forms a natural pyramid for the burials below. The ancients saw it as the haunt of the cobra goddess Meret-Seger, "She who loves silence:' I was delighted to be asked along by four of the young staff members on a Sunday morning. It was a steep climb, but I would rather have died than admit that I was out of breath and my knees were getting strange. But the view from the top was not only beautiful, it was extremely moving. I understood the feeling of one staff member who had declined to come with us on the grounds that the climb to the Qurn is a religious experi­ence and best done alone.

I had to leave this lovely place to complete the last task I had in Egypt. That was to continue the effort we started last year in Chicago: to increase private support for Chicago House since no more Smithsonian money is available for archaeological projects in Egypt. The University of Chi­cago provides over half of the budget of Chicago House, and it is now up to us to provide the rest. Lanny, Martha and I went to Cairo on several occasions to meet the American (continued on p. 4)

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JUST PUBLISHED (t's~~c 42 (Studie~s In Anci~nt' Oriental civilization}. .

WIlham J. Murnane, The Road to 1<.adesh: A Hlstoncal }[lterpretation of the Battle Reliefs? of King 'Sety fat Kar­nak. Chic.ago , ,1985. Pp. xix+ 252 ' including three maps. Paperbound with sewn signatures., P~ice $10.00

Members of the Oriental 'Instjtut~ receive a 20% discount on Oriental Institute publications. Members', fa'~t:llty, staff, and .students however may"order, one copy of the above book at a discol:ln.t of 50% on the price listed if the book is pl,lrchased by November 30, 1985. Please send your request to tbePublications Sales Office at}he OrientallnstiJute and an invoice detailing tbe price , discount, and po~tage and handling fees will be 'sent to you. Bqok Iists ,onhe current public~tiQns are also available from the Publication~' Sales

, Office UP()n ,request. ' •.

FALL 'MEMBERS' {:OURSES.

, NEWLIGH1' ON THE'BHILISTINES . The Peoples :ofth~ Se~" whose ' origins are shr~~dea i~' mystery, we~~ responsible for tne destruction of most east­ern Mediterranean sites around 1200 B.c., exploiting the power vacuum created by the wea'kness of the Egyptian and Hitti'te empires. The most well-known of these Peoples, the :Philistipes,.ultimateLY came to o~cupy the southern"'coastal plain bf present -day Israel, cleve'loping ioto an'independent po\ver whose cities threatened tht! existence of the indige­nous Canaanite city-states and the newly settled Israelites. The Philistines remained a power for '600 years , occupying a sensitive geographical position in the region between Egypt and Israel , Judah ; AssYria, and Babylonia.

This course wi.\l cover historical", qud biblicaJ sources , material culture , re.Jigion, and bur,ial customs. Special em­phasis will be placed on the recently excavated material froin the Oriental Tns,tltute's excavation at Tell Ashkelon, a city i?eIOl;ging' to the Philistine pentapolis. The illustrated lectures will be supplemented by vi.sits to the Museum and Archaeology Lab to viewactual~ Philistine artifacts. An extensive bibliognlph/ will be provided, from which· read­ings will 'be recorri!nen&~d for e\lcn session; T: Dothan's The Philistines and their Mate~ial Culture (Yale University Press, 1982) is greatly .recommended.

'r.

INSTRUCTOR: Samuel R. Wolffis a Ph.D, candidate in Syro-Palestinian Archaeology a~d form~r Assistant to the Curator of the .oriental Institl!te Museum. He has partici-

" pated in field excayationsat Cathage , Sicily, Sardinia, and at Tell Gezer and Tell Ashkelon in 1srael.

. :{. '* A IUSTORY OF EGYPTOLOGY ~nie hisl@ryi'of Egyptolpgy is a saga of bold explorers, well­to-do traveler~; 'pibneering photographers; rogues 'and roy­'alty, gifted ·, ain,a,le).lrs a~d ' diIettanre's; collectors, grave­TQbbef$, aneI :~ystics :?:Jt is ' alsp ,~(story of patient schol!irs

. ~nd 'archaeblogistS, mimy~ 6f wh0,rulab'ored for many years

to increase our knowledge ,6£ ancient Egypt, There are popular he'roes , such as Howard Carter, the discoverer of "King Tut's Tomb," and unsung heroines, such as Ida Pratt.

Whose body was found in the "Tomb of Queen Tiye ," and why are there so many conflicting eye-witness accounts of this important discovery? What happened when the aging EmpressEugenie of France suddenly sat down on the newly- . excavated wooden throne of an ancient Egyptian queen? Why did it take an actof God to make Kurt Sethe and Percy Newberry stop their on-goIng argl!ment over Queen Hat- , shepsut'? What is the Chicago connection to Tut-ankh­Amun: The Untold Story ?

Through the use of anecdotes, discussions and illustrated lectures, the instructor will attempt to answer these ques­tions and others , asthe. class explores the history of Western fascinatfonwith Egypt. from ancient times t.a the present. The cOYfse will begin with a look at ancient writers ,such as Herodotus, will highlight some of the experiences of medie­val visitors i:o.the Nile Valley, and will continue witha survey of some of the many colorful travelers from Europe in the 19th century, the heyday of El!ropean interest 111 Egypt. Beginning with Champollion's breakthrough in decipher­ing hieroglyphs in 1822, the course will chart the growth of professionalEgyptolog~cal studies in EUl:ope, America, Egypt, and 'els~wnere , with emphasis ons~holaJslijp, col­lecting, field expedjtio~s, and excavating in Egypt. ' .. ,. .

INSTRUCTOR: J,ohn Larson has been theOdenta! Insti­tute. Museum Archivist since 1980. In 1982, he led .the Oriental Institute Arcbaeological Tour to Egypt, John has taught Members Courses on Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyp-tian art , and the history of the 18th Dynasty. i

Class will meet o n Saturdays, 10 a.m.-noon, for eight weeks, October 5 through November 23 at the Oriental Institute. FURTHER INFORMATION' 962-9S07. Tuition is 560 plus 525 ann~ual membership in Oriental Institute.

Please register me for the course

o New Light on the Philistines o A History of Egyptology o I am a member and enclose a check for $60 o I am not a member but enclose a SEPARATE

check for $25 to cover a one year Oriental Institute membership. '

Name ____ ~--------~~------=---__ -----Address __ ;-"'-____________________________ _

City ______ - __ ~tate- Zip __ ~_

Daytime telephone ___________ --"' _________ _

Please make all checks, payable to THE ORIENTAL. INSTITUTE. Please register by Wednesday, 0ctobor 2nd. Mail to: EDUCATION OFFICE; The Oriental Institute , 1155 ~ast 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637. .

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THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE Cordially Invites You to the

Opening Lecture

Woolleys Ur: Ftfty Years On

by Roger Moorey

Ashmolean Museum, Oxford

Wednesday, October 2, 1985 at 8:00PM

Breasted Hall, The Oriental Institute and a Reception following

in the Museum

Admission is free but seating is limited. Please write or telephone to make a reservation by Wednesday, September 25.

Membership Office The Oriental Institute 1155 East 58th Street 962-951J

MEMBERS' DAY October 27,1985 12:00-4:00 P.M.

The Institute opens its doors to the Membership This is a wonderful opportunity

to meet Faculty and Staff There will be tours of the basement laboratories

The Museum offices will be open Children's Activities- Movies Refreshments will be provided

AND MUCH MORE

COME AND JOIN THE FUN

The SUQ will offer a 15% discount­MEMBERS'DAY only-to members.

FREE SUNDAY MOVIES AT THE ORIENTAL INSTITUTE

All films will be shown at 2 p.m. in Breasted Hall

SEPTEMBER 15

SEPTEMBER 22

SEPTEMBER 29 OCTOBER 6 OCTOBER 13 OCTOBER 20

OCTOBER 27 NOVEMBER 3

NOVEMBER 10

NOVEMBER 17 NOVEMBER 24 NOVEMBER 30 DECEMBER 1

DECEMBER 8

DECEMBER 15 DECEMBER 22 DECEMBER 29

IRAN: LANDMARKS IN THE DESERT

TURKEY: CROSSROADS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD

OF TIME, TOMBS AND TREASURE IRAQ : STAIRWAY TO THE GODS EGYPT: GIFT OF THE NILE MEGIDDO: CITY OF

DESTRUCTION PR ESERVING EGYPT'S PAST MYTH OF PHARAOHS/ ANCIENT

MESOPOTAMIA EGYPT'S PYRAMIDS: HOUSES

OF ETERNITY THE BIG DIG RIVERS OF TIME THE EGYPTOLOGISTS IRAN: LANDMARKS IN THE

DESERT TURKEY: CROSSROADS OF THE

ANCIENT WORLD OF TIME, TOMBS AND TREASURE IRAQ: STAIRWAY TO THE GODS EGYPT: GIFT OFTHE NILE

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FROM THE MUSEUM OFFICE NOVEMBER LECTURE \

1985 Chicago Neighborhood Telephone Directory covers featuring the Oriental Institute Museum collection. Flat covers suitable for framing; great for out-of towners. Availa­ble for $1.00 donation per cover to walk-ins at the Museum Office (room 219) or $2.00 per cover by domestic mail. Send check , payable to the Oriental Institute, to the Orien­tal Institute Museum Office , 1155 East 58th Street, Chi­cago, Illinois 60637.

i I NEIGHBaUiOOD i Telephone directory

I ~W i ~ ~

i

j

ORIENTAL INSTITUTE MUSEUM HOURS AND USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS

The Oriental Institute Museum is open Tuesday-Saturday from 10 AM to 4 PM and Sundays from 12 noon to 4 PM. The Museum is closed Mondays and on holidays when the CTA Culture Bus is not operating. NOTE: on Tuesday, October 8, 1985 the Museum will be closed to the public all day.

Administration Office Recorded Museum Announcement Museum Office Suq Office Suq Store, Lobby Publication Sales

~ . Museum Education Programs Volunteer Guide Office Membership Office

962-9514 962-9521 962-9520 962-9509 962-9510 962-9508 962-9507 962-9507 962-9513 962-9537 Research Archives

Donald J. Wiseman , The University of London , will present an illustrated lecture, Nebuchadnezzar and Baby lon, on Wednesday, November 13, 1985 at 8 p.m. in Breasted Hall.

HIEROGLYPHS-BY-MAIL TO BEGIN IN OCTOBER

The Introductory Hieroglyphs-by-Mail course taught by Frank Yurco will begin in early October. It will consist of ten lessons. As you complete each lesson and return it to the instructor, he will correct the exercises , answer any ques­tions you might have , and return them to you along with the next lesson. It will take about twenty weeks to complete the course.

The two necessary texts will be Gardiner's Egyptian Gram­mar and Faulkner's Middle Egyptian Dictionary, both of which can be ordered from the Suq.

Tuition is 580 plus the annual membership fee of $20 (525 in the Chicago area). Please register by October 1st.

Please enroll me in Egyptian Hieroglyphs-by-Mail course.

__ My check for $80 is enclosed __ I am a member __ I enclose a separate check for

annual membership __ I would like to order Gardiner's

Egyptian Grammar from the Suq and enclose a separate check (price: $37.50 less 10% member discount , plus 8% sales tax if shipped to Illinois address, plus $3.00 shipping charge).

__ I would like to order Faulkner's Dictionary from the Suq, and enclose payment (price: $21.00 less 10% member discount, plus 8% sales tax if shipped to Illinois address, plus $2.50 shipping charge).

Name ________________________________ __

Address ______________________________ __

City, state and zip code __________ _

Please make all checks payable to Oriental Institute with separate checks for tuition , membership and Suq. Return to Education Office , Oriental Institute, 1155 E. 58th St., Chicago, IL 60637

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RECENT MUSEUM ACQUISITIONS

Urartian bronze fragment. presumably a belt. decorated in repousse with inner panels containing standing lions and pointed-petal rose lies surrounded bv palmeltes.

As mentioned in the Summer Flyer, the Museum of the Oriental Institute has received an important collection of Urartian bronzes as a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Albert F. Haas and Mr. and Mrs. Maurice D. Schwartz. The collection is now on exhibition in Alcove M of the Assyrian Hall in the Museum.

During the ninth , eighth and early seventh centuries B.C. , Urartu, a kingdom centered in the mountains and valleys bounded by lakes Van, Urmia and Sevan , was a major rival of Assyria and contested its control of trade routes to the west and its dominance of the mountainous areas to the east.

The earliest Assyrian references to Urartu , dating to the thirteenth century B.C. , suggest that Urartu consisted of a group of politically-fragmented cities. This condition pre­vailed for the next four centuries. By the end of the ninth century B.C., Urartu had become a powerful , unified king­dom.

However, numerous campaigns of expansion against the Assyrians during the eighth and seventh centuries weak­ened Urartu and the kingdom collapsed in the early sixth century B.C.; at roughly the same time , the power of As­syria also crumbled.

For models of representational art , the Urartians bor­rowed from their great rivals, the Assyrians. Monumental Urartian art is exemplified by a few stone reliefs and painted fragments from temple and palace walls. Large statues, undoubtedly of metal , appear in an Assyrian relief which shows the pillaging of the Urartian temple at Musasir. The most frequently found examples of Urartian art are deco­rated metal o bjects and those now on display in the museum

are typical. They consist of fragmentary plaques, usually identified as appliques for wide belts , and armor for both men and horses.

Although the general forms and motifs of Urartian art follow Assyrian prototypes , they were altered to suit local taste. On the whole , the compositions tend to be formal and decorative rather than realistic. On several appliques, orna­mental patterns placed between the horsemen and hunted lions create a composition of isolated individual figures. The Urartians rendered the standard animals and monsters of Assyria , but particularly favored fantastic hybrids such as siren-like combinations of human beings, lions , and birds. Specifically Urartian is the stiff gallop of the animals. Their pteasure in ornamentation is shown by the geometric pat­terning on the bodies of some of the animals. Changes in such stylistic details allow successive phases of Urartian art to be distinguished.

The rectangular belt appliques were cut from thin sheets of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin ), and are believed to have been sewn to a leather backing through the holes which were punched in the tops and sides of the plaques. The raised and incised decoration was achieved by two metal working techniques , repousse and chasing. In re­pousse work, the front of the metal is cushioned on a piece of soft leather or pitch and worked from the back with punches and a hammer to push out the metal and create a three dimensional effect when seen from the front. In chas­ing , the metal is worked from the front by hammering in the incised design , using an assortment of metal punches with various patterns (dots, circles , palmettes , long or short lines) on the tips.

Urartian decorative arts played an influential role in the East-West cultural exchanges of the early first millennium B.C. Urartu served as the intermediary between Assyria and the nomadic Scythians, who were then emerging from the steppes of Central Asia. Urartian gold ornaments and silver horse frontlets have been found at Ziwiye in western Iran . The great cauldrons of Urartu were exported west­ward to Phrygia in central Anatolia and beyond; they were among the treasures dedicated to the sanctuary of Zeus at Olympia. Thus , the mountain kingdom of Urartu played a part in handing on the legacy of the ancient East to the Greeks of the Orientalizing Period.

During the past year, the Assyrian Hall has been undergoing a few changes. This modest re-organization made it possi­ble to insta ll a temporary special exhibit in Alcove 0 , in time for the Annual Members' Dinner last May. The focal point of the display is a recent acquisition, an ancient Egyptian funerary statuette do nated by Mr. Euge ne Chesrow.

Oriental Institute 1985.1 is a well-modeled stand ing fig­ure in Osiride costume and archaic tripartite wig. It was carved from a single piece of carefully-selected haTdwood . The pattern of the wood-grain serves to emphasize the arms ( and elbows, which are hidden beneath a close-fitting shroud. \. Traces of blue , black and yellow pigment still remain o n the wig , face and broad-collar necklace. Except for the hie ro­glyphic inscription , which is inlaid with yellow pigment, the body was left unpainted. The large ears are typical for

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sculpture from the time of the Pharaoh Amun-hotep II, who reigned from 1453-1419 B.C. They are pushed forward and made to seem even more prominent by the heavy lappets of the wig. Although the beard itself is now missing, painted chin-straps along the line of the jaw bear witness to the original presence of an Osiride beard .

The hieroglyphic inscription on the body reads: MADE THROUGH THE FAVOR OF THE KING FOR THE HE­REDITAR Y PRINCE AND COUNT, OVERSEER OF THE CATTLE OF AMUN, KEN(-A M UN). Ken-Amun was responsible for property belonging to the powerful Imperial god of Thebes , Amun-Re'. From other sources, we know that Ken-Amun was Foster-brother of Amun-hotep II (Ken-Amun's mother, the Lady Amun-em­ipet had been Royal Nurse to the infant Prince) and Chief Steward of the King's northern estates at Peru-nefer. Peru­nefer, near Memphis, was the site of the Egyptian royal naval yards and the home-base of the Egyptian fleet. In his youth , Amun-hotep II had been given responsibility for these operations by his father, Tuthmosis III. Ken-Amun and the Prince doubtless grew up together at the Court of Tuthmosis III and divided their time between the palaces of Memphis in the north and Thebes in the south.

One mark of the King's favor was the production of funerary figurines for Ken-Amun in the royal workshops. The ancient Egyptians believed that these figurines , called shawabtis, could be animated by means of magical spells to perform obligatory agricultural tasks , in place of the de­ceased , in the Hereafter. A survival of this belief can be found in the story of the "Sorcerer's Apprentice". One of the shawabtis from Ken-Amun's tomb , now in Cairo, was made of glass , a rare and expensive material in the time of Amun-hotep II.

In addition to the shawabtis which were made for Ken­Amlin's Theban tomb , the King permitted Ken-Amun to have sacred deposits of votive statuettes buried at two other

locations. One figurine (0.1. 18210) was found at Abydos , near a votive shawabti of the King himself (0.1. 5657). Abydos was the chief cult center of the god Osiris , the ruler of the Hereafter. Cenotaphs, votive stelae and sacred depos­its were common at Abydos, especially near the tomb of the 1st Dynasty King Djer, which was thought by 18th Dynasty Egyptians to be the Tomb of Osiris himself. A group of more than 70 shawabtis and Osiride figurines was buried in the north , in the vicinity of Peru-nefer, to insure a steady supply of food and drink for the soul of the deceased Ken-Amun in the next life.

This remarkable group of wooden statuettes was discov­ered in 1915, in a cachette buried near Zawyet Abu Musal­lam, about 8-1/2 kilometers south of the Giza pyramids. In Cairo in 1919, while leading the first field expedition of the newly inaugurated Oriental Institute, Breasted learned of the find. Breasted's personal notes on the discovery of the cachette are preserved in the accession files of the Oriental Institute Museum. His account is corroborated by the fol­lowing description , published by Tewfik Boulos in 1920:

"On the 25th of August 1919 the chief gaffir of the Pyramids informed me that during his inspection at Gabal Zawiet Abu Mosallam , he had noticed some illegal digging he thought for antiquities. I at once charged Ibrahim Fayid , the Bash-Reis of the Pyramids to make a careful inquiry; the local gaffir now began to watch the plundered spot every evening.

"On the evening of the 7th September 1919-which was the Bayram - the gaffir Mohamed Bahur was making his usual round ; while at a distance of some 20 or 30 metres from the threatened spot , he saw six persons digging. Before he could recognise them, they began firing on him with revolvers - fortunately, he was not touched . Finding himself in danger, he took cover behind a don­key, standing there and fired in return . One of the plunderers , named Farag Ali Sallam, was hit in the side and arm and fell to the ground while the rest fled. The gaffir at once informed the Omdeh of Zawiet Abu Mossallam , who informed the police and arrested the injured man and his brother with their implements. The Maamur of Giza, who came to the spot the same night, made the necessary inquiry and encouraged our gaffir, telling him that he had carried out his duty properlY:'

The investigations of Boulos established that part of the cachette was discovered accidently about four years earlier by some soldiers who were digging a firing trench. After the soldiers left the site, unauthorized diggers found several more. Within a few years , some of these began to appear for sale in antiquities dealers' shops in Cairo , where Breasted purchased the larger Ken-Amun statuette (0.1. 10515). Sub­sequent excavations authorized by the Egyptian Antiqui­ties Service uncovered more statuettes from the cachette, and several were sold or given away as gifts by the authori­ties of the Cairo Museum. The smaller Ken-Amun statuette (0.1. 10479) was given to Breasted for the Oriental Institute by James E. Quibell , Keeper of the Cairo Museum.

Wherever they appeared , the figures of Ken-Amun in the wall paintings of his tomb were hacked out. Whether from vandalism or a fall from grace , the destruction of these figures represented an attack on the very soul of the tomb­owner, according to Egyptian beliefs. How fortunate for Ken-Amun that his royal master and foster-brother made special provisions for the benefit of his soul, far from the vulnerable location of his desecrated tomb!

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THESUQ .,

U-'-Birds in an Acacia Tree

T he scene showing Egyptian birds in an acac ia tree was copied by Nina M. Davies , as pa rt of a series of tempera facsimiles o f Ancient Egyptian wall pa intings which she executed on commission from Sir Alan H. Gard iner between 1923 and 1935. T he origina ls were given to the Oriental Institute, in conjunc tion with the pu blication of ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PA IN TINGS in 1936. T he acacia is shown in full bloom. The bi rds , including the hoopoe and two varieties of shrike , are known to nest in acac ia trees. T he origina l wall pa in ting is in the tomb o f the no march Khnum-hotep , Tomb No.3 at Beni Hasan in Middle Egypt. It dates fro m the time o f Amun-em-ha t II or Senwesret II o f Dynasty 12, about 1929- 1878 B.C.

The Oriental Institute The Uni versity of Chicago

This print, measuring 19x2J inches overall, is now avail­able ii'om the Suq. The colors are beautifu lly subdued earth tones of umber and gold, with azure blue and light green.

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Dated Material

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